Award for Student Work
Zofia Jemioło
Pruszków, Mazowieckie, Poland
This chapel within a Pruszków mental health complex reflects the history of the area and the needs of hospital patients and residents. The space is centered around sacred objects, with the symbolic and spiritual values that they carry. Located within a conservation protection zone, the chapel is accessible to everyone and serves as a park. It’s a place accessible to everyone and serves as a park.
The sacred building has been divided into three zones, each with a different meaning. The chapel wall surrounds the garden, the chapel in the center. The cross, standing on an axis, is visible at the entrance to the building and from inside the chapel, against the greenery. The corridor leads to technical rooms and spaces for community use, but its main function is to guide the visitor to the chapel and symbolical icons. It is designed as a closed circuit, so that visitors take a continuous path.
Located underground, the chapel features panoramic windows at ground level. The roof has a skylight supported by four columns. With a concrete and wood structure, the brick façade refers in material and design to the historic brick buildings in the complex. In the interior, the underground space is for people, and the roof symbolizes God and heaven. The interior is finished with clay plaster with straw chaff, natural material, symbolic of the creation of man from clay. Icons decorate the walls of the corridor and chapel. The order of the scenes, as well as their message, is intended to accompany the visitor through the stages of the path in prayer and reflection.
Jury Comments
This student design project is conceptually whole with a lot of depth. The research in this project is impressive, integrating spirituality with mental health. The design is very thoughtful and intentional, supports the clinical work of the hospital, and expresses the intersection of healing and spiritual guidance. The drawings are seductive.
Project Team Members
Zosia Jemioło
Project Consultants
dr inż. arch. Anna Wierzbicka, sacral architecture
dr inż. arch. Tomasz Trzupek, graphics
mgr inż. arch. Anna Jóźwik, construction
dr inż. arch. Kinga Zinowiec-Cieplik, landscape architecture
Mateusz Środoń (artist, icon writer), theology
